the objectives in the cold rolling process include improved sheet surface quality, enhanced steel mechanical strength, and better solidification operations. given the increasing demand for higher steel surface quality, more rapid production, and thinner steel plates, more attention has been directed toward the parameter of temperature in cold rolling as a means of achieving the above objectives...

BACKGROUND Estimates of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) prevalence among psoriasis patients vary widely (5-40%). The time to development of PsA in patients with plaque psoriasis also remains unclear. OBJECTIVES To examine whether length of time since diagnosis of psoriasis affects risk of developing PsA, and to assess differences in quality of life (QoL), work-related issues, comorbidities and heal...

BACKGROUND Burn injury may be associated with long-term rehabilitation and disability, while research studies on the functional performance after injuries, quality of life (QOL), and abilities to return to work of burn patients are limited. These outcomes are related not just to the degree and nature of injuries, but also to the socio-economical background of the society. This study aimed to id...

Large volumes of CCD imaging data that will become available from wide-field cameras at telescopes such as the CFHT, SUBARU, VST, or VISTA in the near future are highly suitable for systematic distance surveys of early-type galaxies using the Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) method. For the efficient processing of such large data sets, we are developing the first semi-automatic SBF analysis...

In modern quality engineering, dual response surface methodology is a powerful tool to monitor an industrial process by using both the mean and the standard deviation of the measurements as the responses. The least squares method in regression is often used to estimate the coefficients in the mean and standard deviation models, and various decision criteria are proposed by researchers to find t...

Conventional material removal of BK7 optical glass will normally result in brittle fracture at the surface, generating severe subsurface damage and poor surface finish. Subsurface damages induced by grinding strongly influence the mechanical strength and optical quality of optical glasses. However, through ductile mode grinding it is possible to reduce the surface and subsurface cracks. It is m...

BACKGROUND Systems for determining psoriasis severity in clinical trials have not been sufficiently validated against patients' perceived quality of life. OBJECTIVE To validate three systems of physician-determined psoriasis severity (the Lattice System Physician's Global Assessment [LS-PGA], Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI] and static Physician's Global Assessment [sPGA]). METHODS ...

Objective measures of disease activity have attracted considerable interest within dermatology because of their capacity to evaluate disease severity through a validated means, to monitor the trajectory of a patient’s disease and as standardised outcome measures in clinical trials (1). Two disease-specific instruments exist for measuring the extent of autoimmune bullous diseases: the Autoimmune...